Electronic Health Records and Evidence-Based Practice: Solving the Little-Data Problem

Abstract

There is great excitement in the healthcare field about the prospects of digital medicine and the associated availability of Big Data for supporting new discoveries that lead to improved healthcare. However, less attention has been devoted to the problem of using the power of digital systems (e.g., EHRs) for communicating the results from these discoveries to practicing clinical healthcare workers. This is the Little Data Problem. This paper discusses how the frameworks of CSE and UXD are helping designers to address the Little Data Problem. The focus is on designing software and interfaces that function as cognitive tools improving situation awareness and supporting sensemaking. Work to develop an app to help people assess cardiovascular health is described as a concrete example of how CSE and UXD principles are being applied to design technologies that support evidence-based clinical practice.

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